Acer's Liquid E1 Android Phone is No Tidal Wave

We're starting to wonder if Acer's allergic to high-end smartphones. Ahead of Mobile World Congress (MWC) next month, Acer decided it was time to splash the media with its Liquid E1 Android handset, a decidedly mid-range phone that would have seemed mighty impressive a year or two ago, but is rather ordinary today.

The device has a 4.5-inch display, which is nice and big, but only a qHD resolution (960x540). It's powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. Other features include a 5MP rear-facing camera, 0.3MP front-facing camera, 802.11n Wi-Fi, 4GB of internal storage, microSD card slot, Bluetooth 3.0, and a middling 1760 mAh battery.

It will come with Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean out of the box, which is really the only high-end spec on this thing. That doesn't mean the Liquid E1 will be a failure, however. There's nothing wrong with offering a solid mid-range handset, especially if Acer decides to keep the price nice and low. Guess we'll find out next month.